University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Heads To Atlanta For ACC Showdown
May 12, 2011 | Baseball
May 12, 2011
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - No. 9 North Carolina hits the road for its final road series of the regular season as the Tar Heels head to Atlanta to take on nationally-ranked Georgia Tech beginning Friday at 4 p.m. The series opener was moved from a 7 p.m. start due to the threat of rain Friday night.
The Tar Heels sit two games behind the Yellow Jackets in the ACC Coastal standing with Miami a half game ahead of the Tar Heels separating the two squads.
The series could help decide the winner of the 2011 ACC Freshman of the Year Award as the top hitters in the conference Georgia Tech's Kyle Wren and UNC's Colin Moran are set to face some of the top pitching in the ACC.
National Rankings
• After a 4-0 week with a midweek win over Gardner-Webb and a sweep of Maryland the Tar Heels either moved up or stayed put in each poll.
• The Tar Heels moved up to No. 9 in the USA Today/Coaches Poll, to No. 11 in NCBWA and No. 17 in Baseball America.
• Carolina remained at No. 15 in the Perfect Game Top 25 and No. 17 in the Collegiate Baseball poll.
• Georgia Tech is ranked as high as No. 9 in the Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game polls.
• The Yellow Jackets are slotted at No. 13 by Baseball America and the USA Today/Coaches Poll, while the National College Baseball Writers Association has Georgia Tech at No. 15.
North Carolina-Georgia Tech Series
• The Tar Heels and Yellow Jackets have met 117 previous times with Georgia Tech holding a 64-53 advantage in those meetings.
• Georgia Tech swept the season series a year ago from the Tar Heels by margins of 2-1, 13-5 and 11-8 (10 innings).
• The sweep was the first for either team since Georgia Tech claimed a sweep in 2000.
• The Tar Heels claimed the last series in Atlanta won Carolina won two of three from the Yellow Jackets in 2009.
• The Tar Heels opened with a 4-2 win before suffering a 10-6 extra-inning loss then went on to claim the series with a 13-10 victory.
Scouting The Yellow Jackets
• Georgia Tech comes into the weekend with a grip on second place in the ACC Coastal Division with an 18-6 league mark.
• The Yellow Jackets boast the third-best hitting team in the conference and the second-best pitching team, with perhaps the best rotation in the league.
• Georgia Tech allows the 10th fewest hits per game in the country and own the 12-lowest ERA, while striking out the seventh most batters per contest.
• Friday starter Mark Pope sports a 10-2 mark on the year with a 1.27 ERA, the seventh-lowest in the nation.
• Junior Jed Bradley is the top strikeout man for the Yellow Jackets posting 9.92 per nine innings which places him among the top 50 in the country.
• Freshman outfielder Kyle Wren should give Carolina's Colin Moran a run for the ACC Freshman of the Year as Wren leads Georgia Tech at the dish with a .376 average to go along with a team-high 48 runs scored.
• Matt Skole is the top RBI man for the Yellow Jackets as he has driven in 47 runs on the year.
• The Yellow Jackets enter on a modest four-game winning streak but have dropped two of their last four ACC series, losing at Clemson two weeks ago and at home against Virginia two weeks prior.
Carolina Closing Strong After Exam Break
• North Carolina is one of the few teams in the country with a break scheduled in the season due to the UNC exam schedule that runs through the weekend.
• The Tar Heels have taken full advantage of the small break late in the year and have posted strong results following the break to close out the regular season.
• Since the 2006 season Carolina is 42-12 after the traditional exam break posting at least six wins every season.
Records After Exam Break Since 2006
2006 - 6-3 - NCAA CWS
2007 - 8-1 - NCAA CWS
2008 - 7-2 - NCAA CWS
2009 - 6-3 - NCAA CWS
2010 - 9-3 - NCAA Regional
2011 - 6-0
Closing In On 40 Wins In Record Time
• The Tar Heels have posted a 39-10 record through its first 49 games and with a win on Friday would become the 18th team in school history to reach the 40-win mark and the 10th team under head coach Mike Fox.
• With a win Friday this group of Tar Heels would become the fourth-fastest team to reach 40 wins in school history.
Fastest to 40 wins:
1983 - 47 games, finished 42-10
2008 - 48 games, finished 54-14
1984 - 49 games, finished 44-13
1990 - 50 games, finished 51-14
Shutting The Door
• With Michael Morin's three punch out performance against UNC Asheville on Wednesday helped the sophomore right-hander notch his fifth save of the year joining Cody Penny atop the team lead.
• The save marks the first time since 2005 that the Tar Heels had two relievers record at least five saves in the same season.
• The pair of Morin and Penny become just the fifth tandem in school history to record at least five saves apiece joining the 1984, 1990, 1998 and 2005 squads.
Moran The RBI Machine
• Freshman Colin Moran has made quite a first impression for the Tar Heels this year as he has tallied 60 RBI an average of 1.22 per contest.
• Moran tallied six RBI in the weekend sweep of Maryland and became just the fourth freshman in school history to reach the 60-RBI plateau.
Freshmen With 60 RBI In A Season
73 - Dustin Ackley, 2007
63 - Brian Goodwin, 2010
62 - Tim Federowicz, 2006
60 - Colin Moran, 2011
• Moran is leading the ACC in RBI on the year by 10 over Virginia Tech duo Chris Rash and Ronnie Shaban and would become the first freshman since Jamie D'Antona of Wake Forest in 2001 to lead the conference in RBI outright. Dustin Ackley tied Miami's Yonder Alonso for the ACC RBI lead during his freshman campaign in 2007.
Michael Continues To Reach Safely
• Junior shortstop Levi Michael has had a bit of an up and down year hitting nearly .500 in his first dozen games before slipping to .167 over his next 13 games.
• Once the calendar turned to April, Michael elevated his game to another level and finished the month hitting .386 (22-57).
• Michael has reached base safely in 22 straight games, every game in the month of April and so far every game in the month of May.
• The Welcome, N.C., native drew 19 walks during the month of April to post a .560 on base percentage.
40-40-40 Man
• Levi Michael accomplished a feat last week that only two other Tar Heels in school history had reached during their time at Carolina.
• Michael drew his 40th walk of the season on Tuesday and became the third player in school history to score 40 runs, drive in 40 runs and draw 40 walks in back-to-back seasons.
• He joined Chris Madonna (1993-94) and Dustin Ackley (2008-09) as the only other players to reach the 40 mark in R, RBI and BB in back-to-back years.
At least 40 R, RBI & BB in back-to-back years:
Levi Michael:
2011 - 45 R, 41 RBI, 41 BB
2010 - 76 R, 54 RBI, 44 BB
Dustin Ackley:
2009 - 75 R, 73 RBI, 50 BB
2008 - 82 R, 51 RBI, 53 BB
Chris Madonna:
1994 - 56 R, 44 RBI, 45 BB
1993 - 43 R, 47 RBI, 44 BB
Tar Heels Holding Serve Over In-State Foes
• The Tar Heels have posted a 58-20 against fellow North Carolina schools over the last four years posting one of the top marks in the Old North State.
• Carolina is 14-6 against in-state foes this season after earning its second win over UNC Wilmington and holding on to a 4-2 win over UNC Asheville on Wednesday.
• In the last four years Carolina is:
2008: 15-3
2009: 15-7
2010: 14-4
2011: 14-6
Morin Blossoming In Closer Role
• Michael Morin has evolved from a weekend starter to the top arm out of the bullpen for the Tar Heels this season.
• Morin has been charged with 30 earned runs on the year but only 19 have come while the Leawood, Kan., native has been on the bump.
• Subtracting out the 11 earned runs that fellow relievers inherited Morin would own a 3.37 ERA on the season ranking as one of the 10 pitchers on the squad with a sub-4.00 ERA and at least 10 innings pitched.
• Morin has claimed all four of his wins out of the pen this year and has notched five saves since April 9.
• The sophomore right-hander earned the extra-inning win over Maryland on Saturday and came back to pick up the save in the series finale against the Terps before notching his fifth save of the year on Wednesday against UNC Asheville.
Don't Even Think About It
• Jacob Stallings has put a fear into potential base stealers all year long but opponents continue to test the junior backstop.
• Stallings has thrown out 24 base runners this season and currently ranks in a tie atop the single season annals.
• The Brentwood, Tenn., native needs just one more caught stealing to break Colorado Rockie Chris Iannetta's single season mark of 24 set in 2004.
• Maryland came in as the top stealing team in the ACC and Stallings limited the Terps to zero stolen bases and threw out both attempted runners.
Most Caught Stealings By In A Season
24 - Chris Iannetta (2004)
24 - Jacob Stallings (2011)
Most Career Caught Stealings Since 1990
64 - Dan Moylan (1998-00)
51 - Chris Iannetta (2002-04)
50 - Don Leshnock (1990-92)
39 - Jacob Stallings (2009-11)
39 - Tim Federowicz (2006-08)
RPI Stalwart
• Due to a top 10 schedule and an impressive record this season the Tar Heels have been a consistent sight among the top 10 in the NCAA RPI.
• The Tar Heels have been ranked as high as No. 3 in the RPI and have been in the top 10 the last seven weeks.
• Carolina is not alone as five other ACC squads are ranked among the top 10 this week, including this weekend's opponent Georgia Tech:
2 - Virginia
3 - North Carolina
7 - Florida State
8 - Clemson
9 - Georgia Tech
Tough Sledding The Rest Of The Way
• The final two weeks of the regular season will be some of the toughest for the Tar Heels as they face a pair of top 10 opponents in Georgia Tech and Virginia in addition to a midweek tilts against in-state foe Appalachian State.
• According to Boyd's World the Tar Heels face the toughest remaining schedule of any team in the country as their remaining opponent's winning percentage is .772.
• The Tar Heels are not the only ACC team still in contention for post season play with a strong finishing schedule as Virginia (0.685) has the second-toughest schedule left. Georgia Tech (.678), Virginia Tech (.675) and Miami (.669) have the third, fourth and fifth toughest slates left.
